Journal of Medicinal Plants Research Vol. 4(25), pp. 2740-2745, December Special Review, 2010 Available online at http://www.academicjournals.org/JMPR ISSN 1996-0875 ©2010 Academic Journals Review Acorus calamus : An overview R. Balakumbahan*, K. Rajamani and K. Kumanan Horticultural Research Station, TamilNadu Agricultural University, Pechiparai, 629161. Tamilnadu, India. Accepted 8 July, 2010 Acorus calamus (Sweet flag) is a wetland perennial monocot plant, in which the scented leaves and rhizomes have been traditionally used medicinally against different ailments like, fever, asthma, bronchitis, cough and mainly for digestive problems such as gas, bloating, colic, and poor digestive function. Number of active constituents and essential oil were identified and characterized from the leaves and rhizomes of sweet flag. An over view of the pharmacological activities and insecticidal activities are summarized here. Key words: Acorus calamus, Acorus gramineus , Acoraceae, active constituents, pharmacology. INTRODUCTION Mother earth has bestowed to the mankind and various Estimate reveals that the world trade in medicinal plants plants with healing ability for curing the ailments of and extracts industry was growing at a rate of 12 to 15% human being. This unique feature has been identified per annum. The export from India is to the tune of Rs 446 since pre historic times. The WHO has also estimated crores with the present growth rate of 7%. Acorus that 80% of the world population meets their primary calamus is a tall perennial wetland monocot plant from health care needs through traditional medicine only. the Acoraceae family. The scented leaves and rhizomes Medicinal plants are those plants possessing secondary of sweet flag have been traditionally used as a medicine metabolites and are potential sources of curative drugs and the dried and powdered rhizome has a spicy flavour with the very long list of chemicals and its curative nature. and is used as a substitute for ginger, cinnamon and India is the eighth largest country having rich plant nutmeg for its odor. diversity with a total of around 47,000 species, of which It is known by a variety of names, including cinnamon more than 7500 species are being used as medicinal sedge, flag root, gladdon, myrtle flag, myrtle grass, myrtle plants. Plant products are used as main source of sedge, sweet cane, sweet myrtle, sweet root, sweet rush medicine throughout the world for treating various human and sweet sedge. A. calamus is probably indigenous to ailments. About 50% of the present day medicines in the India and now found across Europe, Southern Russia, United States of America are derived from natural Northern Asia Minor, China, Japan, Burma, Sri Lanka, sources especially from various plants (Copping, 1996). and Northern USA. Calamus was valued as a stimulant, The use of traditional medicine in both developing and bitter herb for the appetite and as an aid to the digestion. developed countries is significantly increasing in recent In North America, the decoction was used for fevers, times. stomach cramps and colic; the rhizome was chewed for There is a growing demand for medicines of Ayurveda, toothache and powdered rhizome was inhaled for Siddha, Unani and Homeopathy for domestic con- congestion. In Ayurvedic medicine Calamus is an sumption and export purposes. The world trade in plant important herb, and is valued as a "rejuvenator" for the based drugs and its products are many fold expanding brain and nervous system, and as a remedy for digestive continuously; because the general awareness of the wide disorders. spread toxicity and harmful after effects associated with the long-term use of synthetic drugs and antibiotics. TAXONOMY Kingdom: Plantae *Corresponding author. E-mail: [email protected]. Division: Magnoliophyta Balakumbahan et al. 2741 Class: Liliopsida USES Order: Acorales Family : Acoraceae Parts used Genus : Acorus Species: calamus/ A. aromaticus / A. calamus var. The parts used are leaves, root (rhizome) and stem. In americanus Asia, Sweet flag has been used for at least the last 2000 Other species: Acorus gramineus years. The ancient peoples of China used it to lessen swelling and for constipation. In Ayurvedic medicinal practice India, the rhizomes have been used to cure VERNACULAR NAMES several diseases like fever, asthma and bronchitis, and as a sedative. Native tribes used it to treat a cough, made English- Sweet Flag a decoction as a carminative and as an infusion for Ayurvedic- Vacha cholic. Unani- Bacch In Western herbal medicine the herb is chiefly Hindi- Bajai, Gora-bach, Vasa Bach employed for digestive problems such as gas, bloating, Marathi- Vekhand colic, and poor digestive function. Calamus helps Tamil- Vashambu distended and uncomfortable stomachs and headaches Telugu- Vadaja, Vasa associated with weak digestion. Small amounts are Kannada -Baje thought to reduce stomach acidity, while larger doses Malayalam -Vayambu increase deficient acid production, a good example of Sanskrit- Bhutanashini, Jatila how different doses of the same herb can produce different results. It is a good sedative so that the extract is used for epilepsy, insanity and as a tranquillizer along with valeriana jatamansi and nardostacys grandiflora. It is BOTANY an ingredient of any Ayurvedic preparation “Brahmi Bati” (Budhivardhar) which is indicated in epilepsy, coma, and A. calamus is a perennial plant with creeping and hysteria and in cases of mental retardation; the same extensively branched, aromatic rhizome, cylindrical, up to uses are prescribed for an Acorus containing Unani drug 2.5 cm thick, purplish-brown to light brown externally and “Ma’jun Baladur”. white internally. The leaves of A. calamus has a single prominent midvein and then on both sides slightly raised secondary veins and many, fine tertiary veins. This CULTURAL ASPECTS makes it clearly distinct from Acorus americanus . The leaves are between 0.7 and 1.7 cm wide, with average of Soil and climate 1 cm. The sympodial leaf of A. calamus is somewhat shorter than the vegetative leaves. The margin is curly- It is a hardy plant found growing from tropical to sub- edged or undulate. Plants are very rarely flower or set tropical climates. Plenty of sunshine should be available fruit, but when they do, the flowers are 3 to 8 cm long, to the plant during its growth and after harvesting for cylindrical in shape, greenish brown and covered in a drying the rhizomes. Temperature ranging from 10 to multitude of rounded spikes. The spadix, at the time of 38°C and annual rainfall between 70 and 250 cm are best expansion, can reach a length between 4.9 and 8.9 cm. suited. Cultivation should be avoided in places where The fruits are small and berry-like, containing few seeds. there is no irrigation facility. This species comes up well Flowers from early to late summer depending on the in clayey loams, sandy loams and light alluvial soils of latitude, grows wild in marshy places up to 2000 m river banks. altitude in the Himalayas, Manipur, Naga Hills and in some parts of South India. There are only two species in the genus Acorus . LAND PREPARATION The other species in this genus is Acorus gramineus native to eastern Asia commonly called as Japanese The land should be ploughed twice or thrice prior to the sweet flag, Japanese rush, grassy-leaved sweet flag, onset of rains. The land should be prepared like paddy dwarf sweet flag is an aquatic or wetland perennial with fields. semi evergreen grass like foliage. It has narrow, 6 to 14 in (15 - 35.6 cm) glossy leaves and looks like thick, lush grass. The leaves are carried in two ranks, like opposing Propagation fans. They are flat, about a 0.5 in (1.3 cm) wide and tend to flop over. The insignificant flowers, shaped like little Acorus is propagated through rhizomes. Rhizomes horns, are produced in midsummer on erect hollow obtained from earlier planting are kept preserved in the stems. Usually, only plants grown in water produce flowers. soil and constantly kept moist. After emergence, the 2742 J. Med. Plant. Res. rhizomes are cut into small pieces and planted. Sprouted Active constituents rhizome pieces are planted at a spacing of 30 x 30 cm and depth of 4 cm in the month of July-August. The best The rhizomes of A. calamus Linn. were examined by Asif time for planting is the second fortnight of June. Around et.al for the content and composition of fatty acids and 1, 11,000 plants can be planted per hectare. As the sugars. Composition of the mixed fatty acids, as indicated growth rate is very fast, sprouts are visible on the second by gas chromatography of the corresponding methyl day of planting. esters, were myristic (1.3%), palmitic (18.2%), palmitoleic (16.4%), stearic (7.3%), oleic (29.1%), linoleic (24.5%) and arachidic (3.2%). The nature of the sugars was Fertilizers defined by paper chromatography and confirmed by direct comparison with authentic samples. Composition of Compost/FYM @15 t per hectare along with nitrogen and the sugars, as indicated by densitometer, were maltose phosphorus is applied. One third of N along with 50 kg of (0.2%), glucose (20.7%) and fructose (79.1%).The P and 25 kg of K is the basal requirement. The second essential oil composition of Acorns calamus (sweet flag) dose of N should be given after one month of planting as leaves at different growing phases was examined by GC broadcast and a third dose should be applied after two and GC/MS. The content of the oil in dried sweet flag months of planting. rhizomes was 1.20+/-0.12% and in the leaves, depending on the vegetation phase, was from 0.56 to 1.01%. Beta- Asarone [(Z)-asarone] was the major constituent in the Irrigatio n leaves (27.4 to 45.5%), whereas acorenone was dominant in the rhizomes (20.86%) followed by The river or canal banks where the land is saturated with isocalamendiol (12.75%) (Venskutonsis et al., 2003).